PFG Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Southern Company (The) $SO

PFG Investments LLC reduced its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 6.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,625 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth $510,229,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 125.4% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,349,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $124,059,000 after purchasing an additional 750,500 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Southern by 2,780.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 700,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,423,000 after buying an additional 676,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Southern by 40.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,161,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,789,000 after buying an additional 623,417 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of SO stock opened at $94.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.43. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.